Search for Indonesia ferry victims moves into 'salvage operation': navy

Indonesian authorities were preparing on Friday to right a capsized passenger ferry that went down in the Java Sea last week, a navy official said, with more than 120 people still missing.

The Virgo Transport 8 carried 213 passengers and 30 crew when it lost contact with its shipping company after departing from Indonesia's second city of Surabaya on Java island on Sunday, headed for Banjarmasin on Borneo island.

On Friday, rescuers retrieved three bodies from the submerged ship, taking the confirmed death toll to nine. Another 126 people are missing.

"Today we were able to descend with the assistance of our fellow divers from the Navy... we successfully evacuated three victims," Yudhi Bramantyo, operations director for the national search and rescue agency Basarnas, told a news conference.

He said two of them were men and one was a woman.

Some of the remaining victims are feared trapped inside the vessel.

An expert team has been brought in to assist the operation to right the ferry, local navy commander Galih Nurna Putra told reporters on Friday.

"The salvage operation is underway," Galih said, adding that "there was an observation yesterday".

The head of the Banjarmasin search and rescue agency, I Putu Sudayana, said teams would be able to resume the recovery of bodies once the vessel is righted.

Before that process is completed, divers face risks if they try to enter the capsized ship, he said.

"We understand the psychological condition of the victims' families, but please also understand the situation faced by the joint search and rescue team, because they must also pay attention to (operational) safety."

The capsized vessel has drifted from its original position and sunk farther into the sea, from an initial depth of 21 metres (69 feet) to 29 metres, operations director Bramantyo said.

Marine accidents are a regular occurrence in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands that relies heavily on boat connections for daily transport and tourism.

Lax safety standards and unpredictable weather are the main reasons for the disasters.

On Thursday, rescuers formally called off a search for eight people, including five journalists sent to cover a volcanic eruption, nearly two weeks after their speedboat went missing in waters between Java and Sumatra islands.